Edmonton broke out in a big way against the Flames last night. They needed the Win and played that way for a complete 60 minutes. But the story wasn’t the effort, the story was the skill.
In McDavid’s first Hockey Night in Canada game he exploded for 2 goals and 1 assist to be named the first star of the game. His over the top speed and skill finally clicked in a way that allowed him to dominate the game. It was the first of many night, I’m sure.
The 1st goal was showing off McDavid’s incredible speed. He backed off Kris Russell so much that he might as well have never been there at all.
His assist was absolutely brilliant passing and forechecking by McDavid. He pressured Giordano into making a mistake then made a no-look pass directly behind him to Pouliot who made a great play himself by passing to Yakupov.
The 2nd McDavid goal was a display of the Hockey IQ by all three 1st Overall picks who were on the ice at the time. Nuge, Hall, and McDavid all contributed to that goal. Starting with RNH’s ability to keep the play alive without a stick, to Hall’s control of the puck down low and beautiful pass through the crease to McDavid recognizing the Flames had no idea where he was on the ice. It was a deadly combination for the Flames.
McDavid’s great game wasn’t just some timely goals, it was complete domination of the puck. McDavid’s Corsi For percentage at Even-Strength was a gaudy 76.47%. In a fluid game like hockey where 55% represents a good game, 76% is pure domination.
I thought Coach Todd McLellan may have put it the best when he said, "I though he kind of let himself go and kind of gave himself permission." McDavid was indeed deferring to the veterans too much when his effectiveness is at its highest when he takes the puck and goes.
The best part of this was that the Oilers were following up dominant shifts by McDavid and Yakupov with dominant shifts from Hall and RNH. It was wave after wave of attack from the Oilers once they found their stride.
In the end the Oilers made history last night becoming the first team to ever have four 1st Overall picks score in one game. This is both awesome (!) and embarrassing at the same time. Obviously nobody has been in the position to Draft four 1st Overall picks like the Oilers have and that’s because the team was bad on a historic level.
However, bad was what we were promised when the Oilers embarked on this rebuild. They told us the team would face challenges winning on a nightly basis and rosters would seem incomplete. They probably didn’t realize what they were getting into when they started, but the promise was that those bad teams would eventually add enough high end talent to challenge for cups.
Last night was their 1 and only Win of this young season, but we were given a taste of what that final promise was supposed to be. We caught a glimpse of what a roster peppered with extremely high end talent was supposed to be able to accomplish.
Will we see it again tonight?
LINEUP
We understand that Hendricks is going to sit tonight. He played very well last night, by my estimation, so it’s probably an injury he sustained in the game. Slepyshev will draw in for him instead. There were several shots of Hendricks on the bench looking like he was in discomfort. I missed the specific play where something happened. Nilsson should be starting in net.
Hall RNH Slepyshev Pouliot McDavid Yakupov Korpikoski Lander Purcell Gazdic Letestu Klinkhammer
Klefbom Schultz Sekera Fayne Reinhart Gryba
Nilsson
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Reserve Tank. The Oilers played Thursday then Saturday and tonight is game 3 in 4 nights. These are the scheduled losses but with Hendricks coming out and the fresh legs of Slepyshev going in there is some hope that the Oil can enjoy a boost of energy. Beyond that we’re hoping that with the Win yesterday and the fact that it’s very early in the year the Oilers can avoid a big let-down.
2) Confidence. Last night’s huge Hockey Night in Canada win boosts confidence in everyone. It was the kind of offensive performance people were expecting from a team that has four 1st Overall pick forwards on the roster. Specifically the PP and super Rookie McDavid had a lot to be happy about. They know what they are capable of now. Will it continue tonight?
3) Miller’s Crossing. Somehow Ryan Miller managed to play absolutely terrible against the Oilers last year and still won every game he played against them. He sported just an .896 save percentage vs Edmonton but the Oilers countered with their own set of netminders who were even worse. Last night the Oilers broke the hold the Flames held over them. Can they do the same with the Canucks tonight?
Puck drops tonight at 7 PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet (One?). Game On!
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